He (Gonzalez Inarritu) handles a complex plot with clarity and precision while keeping audience members on the edge of their seats.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
A feverish, breathtaking tour through Mexico City high and low, an explosive, mosaic-style portrait of our continent's largest city.
The most enthralling movie of the year.
Philadelphia Inquirer by Desmond Ryan
An overpowering and original piece of bravura filmmaking that constitutes one of the most breathtaking and impressive directing debuts in years.
Undeniably high-powered. At 153 minutes, it's also punishingly overlong.
As bloody as any recent film. But it's shot through with a harsh, stony humor that's invigorating enough to be regarded as a slap back at death.
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
Fierce, loving, and electric, this movie's got bite as well as bark.
There's something overly studied, almost clinical, in how it all pulls together.
Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington
A stunner: a fiercely brilliant film of such wrenching impact, nonstop drive and unpredictability that watching it becomes an exhilarating ride.
The gritty, Oscar-nominated "Traffic" is a limo ride compared with the bloodletting in this year's foreign-film nominee from Mexico.
The rare mosaic-style film that is connected and coherent while still keeping its element of surprise and unpredictability.